WEBVTT NOT ONLY DANGEROUS... IT'S AGAINST THE LAW. BUT THE HEAD OF LOUISVILLE'S POLICE'S TRAFFIC UNIT... SAYS THERE'S A MUCH MORE DANGEROUS DISTRACTION THAT MOST OF US DO EVERY DAY. WLKY'S INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER DUANE POHLMAN IS HERE WITH A CLOSE LOOK AT THE OTHER FATAL DISTRACTION... DUANE... TO READ THE AVERAGE TEXT... IT'LL TAKE YOU MORE THAN 4 SECONDS... 4 SECONDS WITH YOUR EYES "OFF" THE ROAD. BUT - ACCORDING TO POLICE - YOU ARE DISTRACTED MUCH LONGER.... JUST TO MAKE A CALL. DON'T BELIEVE ME? WATCH THIS. IF POLICE CATCH YOU... 23:58:52 DOG B AND FIFTH STOP LOOKING DOWN. LOOKING UP. LOOKING DOWN. LOOKING UP. TEXTING... 23:49:35 THIRD STOP B AND FORTH STOP "SHE'S TEXTING AWAY AT HER CELLPHONE." WHILE DRIVING... 23:40:22 - THIRD STOP THIS GUY'S TEXTING ON HIS PHONE YOU "WILL" 23:15:40 - FIRST STOP POINTS TO PULL OVER GET A TICKET. 23:51:19DOG B AND FIFTH STOP RIPS TICKET 23:30:19SECOND STOP I'M GOING TO ISSUE YOU A CITATION. TARGETED "TEXTING" PATROLS - LIKE THIS ONE ARE ROAMING IN LOUISVILLE - INCLUDING A RECENT 3-MONTH CRACKDOWN. 23:02 LT SEELYE WE WROTE 349 CITATIONS AND OF THOSE 349, 156 OF THOSE WERE SPECIFICALLY TEXTING. THE REASON FOR THE CRACKDOWN IS CLEAR... TEXTING CAN BE A FATAL DISTRACTION. 30:34 LT SEELYE THE AVERAGE TEXT TAKES ABOUT 4 AND A HALF SECONDS TO READ. TRAVELING AT 55 MILES AN HOUR - YOU'D TRAVEL A LOT OF TURF WHILE TEXTING. 32:06 LT SEELYE BY THE TIME YOU'RE DONE READING THAT TEXT, YOU'VE TRAVELED THE LENGTH OF THAT FOOTBALL FIELD. 50:43 LT SEELYE THAT QUICK TO HIT THE BRAKE IN FRONT OF ME WITH YOU TEXTING BEHIND ME. YOU CAN'T SEE THAT. BUT - ACCORDING TO THE HEAD OF LMPD'S TRAFFIC UNIT - A MUCH MORE COMMON USE OF THAT SMART PHONE IS ACTUALLY TWICE AS DISTRACTING - AND TWICE AS DANGEROUS - AS TEXTING. 32:12 LT SEELYE THE AVERAGE PHONE CALL - IT APPEARS- THROUGH THE SMART PHONE, TAKES TWICE THAT. THAT'S RIGHT... LT. JOE SEELYE SAYS USING YOUR SMART PHONE - AS WELL... A PHONE --- TO DIAL - IS EVEN MORE DISTRACTING THAN THE NOW OUTLAWED TEXTING WHILE DRIVING. I WAS SKEPTICAL... ...SO, LT. SEELYE CHALLENGED ME. 1:00:34 LT SEELYE 2 READY. GO. TIMING ME TO CALL SOMEONE ON MY IPHONE... 1:00:38 LT SEELYE 2 I HAVE A PASSCODE. I NAVIGATED SCREEN LOCKS... AND CONTACT LISTS TO FIND THE PERSON I WANTED TO CALL... 1:01:10 "SCOTT'S NUMBER...." AND THAT SMART PHONE DEMANDED MY CONCENTRATION... AND LOTS OF TIME. 1:01:30 ALRIGHT. 18 SECONDS 4 TIMES LONGER THAN WHAT IT TAKES TO READ THE AVERAGE TEXT. IF I WAS DRIVING... THAT MEANS MY SIMPLE CALL TO A FRIEND DISTRACTED ME FROM THIS... FOR 18 FULL SECONDS. THIS TIME, AT 55 MILES PER HOUR... ... I WOULD HAVE TRAVELED 4 FOOTBALL FIELDS... THAT'S A LOT OF DISTANCE FOR A DISTRACTION... WHEN THINGS GO WRONG OUT HERE - IN A HURRY. 30:20 LT. SEELYE SNAP THAT QUICK LT. SEELYE SAYS HE AND HIS FAMILY HAVE A RULE ABOUT SMART PHONES IN THE CAR... 42:24 PUT 'EM UP. TURN 'EM OFF. IF YOU NEED TO USE IT TURN IT ON. PULL OVER ON THE SIDE OF THE ROADWAY. LT. SEELYE SAYS IT'S CLEAR - NOT JUST TEXTING - BUT DIALING AND TALKING ON A SMART PHONE CAN TURN IN TO A FATAL DISTRACTION IN A HURRY... 42:15 I WOULD DEFINITELY LIKE TO SEE IT HANDS FREE. SOME TYPE OF HANDS FREE LAW. I THINK IT WOULD HELP US OUT. SAVE LIVES. LT. SEELYE SAYS HE DOES NOT WANT TO LEGISLATE... HIS JOB IS TO ENFORCE THE LAWS. BUT HE SAYS IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THERE'S MORE THAN JUST TEXTING... WHEN IT COMES TO "FATAL DISTRACTIONS." I'M DUANE POHLMAN. WLKY